Trafficking of Foreign Women Rampant

India’s obsession with white skin leads to a large number of foreign women being trafficked into Delhi, say senior police officers.

They are lured with promises of employment but end up as sex workers, mostly operating from posh localities and even high-end hotels.

“The traffickers seize the passports of women who try to put up a fight on learning the reality,” says a senior police officer involved in several operations to rescue trafficked women, both Indian and foreign.

These women, mostly from poorer countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, usually come to India on three to six months of work or tourist visas.

“By the time their visa ends, they are deep into prostitution and find no other escape. So they keep returning on extended work permits,” says the officer.

A few of them turn into pimps, often luring their own relatives and country-women into India and later forcing them into prostitution, the police say.

The traffickers employ several means to lure victims.

“Those who aspire for more than mere employment are lured on the pretext of joining a dance group. Some others are promised employment as clerks with big private builders,” the officer said.

Instead, they are sent out across the country to provide sexual services by brokers who mostly operate through the internet. Charges for their services can range between Rs.2,000 and Rs.1 lakh per night, with the women themselves being given very little money.

When they turn old and are no more sought-after, some return to their country while many others are confined to GB Road.